


W.A.R.D.

by hiddencait



Series: Wizarding Armament and Research Division [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Crossover, Fix-It, Gen, oops I created a verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-26
Updated: 2012-11-26
Packaged: 2017-11-19 14:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/574068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddencait/pseuds/hiddencait
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coulson was the one to finally put his foot down and demanded a magical defense division.</p>
            </blockquote>





	W.A.R.D.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anuna/gifts), [Irony_Rocks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irony_Rocks/gifts).



> So this was supposed to be a nice little 500 word trick for my Trick or Treat meme for my buddy Anuna_81. That clearly didn't happen. Instead I ended up writing an 1800+ fic that will likely be part 1 in a series about the first 2 members of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s magical defense division. Because clearly I needed another project. *cue headdesk* 
> 
> Oh! Special thanks goes out to Irony_Rocks for help with the W.A.R.D. acronym. She also gets bonus points for her alternate suggestion of C.H.A.L.I.C.E. - Common Homeland Armament Logistics Intra-wizarding Cooperative Enforcement. Which I really really wanted to use but figured would wear out my fingers trying to type lol

 

Coulson was the one to finally put his foot down and demanded a magical defense division.

 

That he was the one to do so was not all that surprising – of the three members of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the clout and the clearance to make such a demand, only Phil truly understood the Wizarding World. After all, he’d been born a squib, albeit an extremely determined and competent one. He’d spent most of his youth mastering the art of using what little magic he was born with in the most efficient manner possible. It was that mastery that had saved his life during the “Loki-kebabing” incident as Stark had dubbed Phil’s near death experience. And it was that mastery that put him in a supervisory position once the Wizarding Armament and Research Division was actually enacted.

 

Gods knew Fury wasn’t willing to touch the political mess that deliberately mixing Muggle scientists and Wizarding mages was certain to be, and that was even if magic wasn’t one of the very few things that could set Fury cringing. And Hill was far too much of a realist. The Avengers as a concept had been more far-fetched than she felt acceptable, and wizards were a step even further into the realm of “What the genuine fuck?” 

 

So again, Phil being tasked with the assignment was not exactly a surprise, though he would have preferred if some of his Avenger-wrangling responsibilities might have been taken off his shoulders to compensate. As he was still charged with herding the super-powered cats, Coulson decided they’d start small – bringing in only 2-3 magic users to form a core team. Working from the ground up with those few would be a much easier prospect than trying to fully staff that sort of department overnight.

 

Now Phil just had to find those elusive few wizards. A few American born witches had come in, but only on a trial basis. They’d apparently been disturbed by the flying aircraft carrier to stick around; Phil had done his best not to comment on the hypocrisy considering the women flew brooms for gods’ sakes. Luckily, Stark ended up doing it for him. After that failure, Coulson had approached the renowned Dr. Stephen Strange, but Phil discovered the gentleman had suffered from an ego that easily rivaled Tony’s and so reconsidered the recruitment.

 

It was finally a call to his old friend Kingsley, whom Phil had met on a gap year excursion through some of the international wizarding cities, that led to the perfect pair of candidates. When they’d met for tea at a wizard-friendly pub outside of London (and yes there were in fact perks to putting up with Tony Stark, a private jet being only one of them), the newly appointed Minister of Magic had seemed to be expecting Phil’s request, and indeed looked a little relieved.

 

“It is time for such a blending of our two factions, and more than time, I think,” he said, his deep voice still carrying a heavy sorrow as if the Second Wizarding War had ended only months prior instead of several years. “The one called Loki has raised great concerns within the Ministry. The thought that another such mage might find their way here is rather terrifying. That we might not have a response team in place in time is even more so.” He looked down, and his fist began to clench against the table before he smoothed it out with visible effort. “I hope you will accept my apologies that I was not able to send aid to you during the recent incident. Most among the Ministry pushed for non-interference and my hands were tied. Had I been in my position longer…” He trailed off, and Phil nodded his understanding.

 

Even with the weight of Kingsley’s service during the war, his position was more precarious in the recovering wizarding Britain that it might otherwise have been. Going against the popular vote and interfering in an international magic incident would have put him on shaky ground.

 

“In any case, I believe I have the answer to your predicament with the new W.A.R.D. unit. If the wizard and witch I have in mind meet your specific criteria and agree to the positions, of course.”

 

Phil noticed one of Shacklebolt’s pair of bodyguards curl his lip as if aware of who the Minister meant and less than impressed by the subject at hand. Coulson filed the information away, and leaned forward as Kingsley went on.

 

“I have two candidates that I think would suit your purposes.” Kingsley slid a pair of folders across the table, and Phil opened one to see the face of a young woman with a determined smile and intelligent eyes staring back at him. Unlike many of the wizarding photos Phil had experienced in his youth, this one didn’t wave back, just slid her hands in her pockets and looked out at him, a challenge clear in her pose.

 

“Hermione Granger,” Kingsley said, the pride clear in his voice. “Often called the ‘brightest witch of her age.’”

 

“You agree with that assessment?” Phil asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Not in the slightest,” Kingsley said, then grinned broadly. “It is a vast understatement. The witch is one of the most intelligent I have ever known. Charms, potions, arithmancy, defense, dueling… She mastered all but the most obscure of these while still at Hogwarts and used all of those skills in direct defense and aid of Harry Potter against Lord Voldemort. She is simply brilliant. Muggleborn, as well, which I expect will be a positive considering she would be working with predominantly Muggles if she chooses to join you.”

 

“Indeed,” Phil said, flipping through the young woman’s impressive transcripts and resume. “Brilliant, focused, loyal. What am I missing – why would you possibly let her go?”

 

Kingsley sighed and steepled his fingers together on the table. “Because I believe she will be wasted within our Ministry. Not deliberately and certainly not maliciously, but none the less, it is likely to happen. You see, people remember that she is brilliant, but they seem to forget that she is also brave and resourceful and fully as much a warrior as Potter was. I expect the only reason she has not joined the Auror department is only due to her loyalty to Harry and a desire to let him pursue that avenue without her sharing the spotlight. Other than Harry, the rest of her loved ones seem to expect her to walk away from the Ministry completely for a ‘quiet life.’”

 

Kingsley shook his head and let out a long suffering sigh, one Phil had heard himself make gods only knew how many times.

 

“The third of the Golden Trio in particular seems to be waiting for Hermione to settle down at home with him. I think he hopes to marry her and see them build a family the way his parents did. And Hermione is easily the least likely housewife I have ever met. At least at this point in her life. Later she might make a formidable mother indeed, much like Ron Weasley’s mother herself. But for now…”

 

“She’s not ready to settle down,” Phil concluded.

 

“Not even remotely.” Kingsley took a sip of his tea, and shrugged. “Your project could be the perfect opportunity for her. Or so I sincerely hope.”

 

Phil took another long look at the woman in the image and nodded slowly before gently closing the file. Then he reached for the other and inside found another photo, this time of a young man. A terribly haunted young man judging by the shadows under his eyes and hunched shoulders. Otherwise his bearing and clothes might have been those of a fairly well-to-do young gentleman as the shirt, waistcoat, and trousers were tailored and probably even more expensive than Phil’s suits tended to be. So why someone so obviously well-to-do in the wizarding world would be… The young man in the picture suddenly lifted his head and turned his left arm over, revealing a lurid burn scar on his forearm, one is a shape Phil had no trouble recognizing.

 

“The Dark Mark. At his age.”  Phil sighed heavily, and across the table Kingsley just shook his head sadly.

 

“Draco Malfoy. His parents were followers of Voldemort. Just before his 6th year at Hogwarts, he was ‘invited’ to take the Mark. After receiving the Mark, he was given the ‘honor’ of his first mission: to kill Albus Dumbledore.”

 

Phil started, that remark finally shocking him more than even the knowledge that a teen had been forced into joining the Death Eaters. Sending a school boy against one of the most powerful wizards of the age? The order might as well have been a death sentence. Phil suppressed a shudder at another post-humus example of just how ruthless Voldemort had been.

 

Kingsley went on as if he hadn’t caught Phil’s look of horror. “He didn’t succeed in that mission – his mother tasked Severus Snape with completing her son’s task if he failed, on penalty of a Blood Oath, and it was Snape who struck the final blow against Dumbledore. However, Draco’s failure did not sit well with the Dark Lord, and his family fell from favor.” Kingsley steepled his fingers again and went on. “That in many ways is what has saved the entire family from Azkaban in the wake of the war. The Malfoy family defected during the final battle and ran. Since they were not actively involved, the courts were lenient. Not kind, but lenient.”

 

“But the stigma remains,” Phil concluded softly, again searching the young man’s features in the photograph. He still read defiance, but where Hermione’s challenge had been paired with curiosity, here it covered long-suffering fear and desperation. “He’ll go mad if he stays under all that scrutiny.”

 

Kingsley nodded. “And that would be a shame.” His bodyguard coughed, but Kingsley silenced the comment that might have followed with one swift glare. “He was a coward and a bully; that is a fact. But I feel Draco is not unredeemable. He wants to earn his own way, out from under his father’s thumb and ambition and away from the apron strings his mother refuses to cut. Away from his family, I think Mr. Malfoy may have promise. It is my belief that he deserves a second chance.”

 

Phil nodded slowly, his eyes glued to the burn scars that Draco’s image had so deliberately shown him. Scars that were _not_ due to the Mark itself, if Phil was right, but rather to the lengths the young wizard had gone to remove the Mark.

 

“He’s not the first obnoxious rich kid I’ve had to deal with,” Phil mused, just a hint of humor in his voice. “If Draco turns out to be even half the man Stark was under all the ego and attitude, then he’ll be an asset.”

 

Phil nodded again sharply, and then closed Malfoy’s file and slid both into his briefcase. He stood and reached across the table to shake his friend’s hand.

 

“Thank you for the suggestions, Kingsley. I think they’ll prove most helpful.”


End file.
